What is there about Christ which makes his being so meaningful to Christians? From the time he was taken to the temple in his early years until his public life began, there is an eighteen year gap for which we have no records. He supposedly lived this time out in Nazareth with his mother and "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and Man". (Luke 2:52). But why is it that Christians have pinned all their faith on Jesus as their messiah? What made him the one?

Much of the basis used as argument for this can be found in prophecy. The Jews who were the first Christians were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, and preached and wrote with so

much conviction that Jews and Gentiles alike became believers. They based the strength of their writings on Old Testament Messianic prophecies which were felt to be fulfilled in the life of Jesus. The promise was made to King David that the Messiah would be one of his descendants, and Jesus is thought to be a descendant of David through his father, Joseph. Mary was also felt to be a descendant of David, although all this must be taken on faith, since all these genealogical records are no longer in existence. Christians also point to the fact that Daniel was told (Daniel 9:24-27) that the Messiah would come in 69 sabbatical years - meaning 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Although the exact date of t his decree is unknown scholars feel that it would be sometime around the first century AD. This is not even to speak of other prophecies which deal with the virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14); His birth in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); His sacrificial death (Isaiah 53:5); His crucifixion (Psalm 22:14-18); His bodily resurrection (Psalm 16:10). Ther

Some common words found in the essay are:
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